


Princes of the Universe

by 2000pancakes



Series: The Last of the Real Ones [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, F/M, FREAKING 80S MUSIC, I Will Go Down With This Ship, MOSTLY QUEEN, Might get a little cheesy, Original villain - Freeform, Post TLJ, Princes here is a gender neutral title you can fight me on this, Reylo - Freeform, THE THIRD AND FINAL CHAPTER, United Reylo, a little fluff, here it is, ive actually planned this fic, possible tlj spoilers, reylo endgame?, very short chapters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-19 13:59:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 6,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13125174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2000pancakes/pseuds/2000pancakes
Summary: Kylo Ren has exiled himself after turning the Grey side of the force.A new enemy has risen from the ashes of the Dark Side.Rey and Kylo Ren must unite to destroy this threat before it destroys everything that they hold dear.





	1. Empty Spaces, Abandoned Places

_"Empty spaces._  
_What are we living for?_  
_Abandoned places._  
_I guess we know the score._  
  
_On and on._  
_Does anybody know what we are looking for?_  
  
_Another hero,_  
_Another mindless crime_  
_Behind the curtain_  
_In the pantomime._  
  
_Hold the line._  
_Does anybody want to take it anymore?"_

 

From the depths of the outer rim, where the force is warped and twisted, an ancient threat rises.

All that they stand for: decay, rot, evil and the Dark Side.

An ancient enemy of the Grey Jedi.

The are not of the force, they are of whatever lies under the galaxy in the untold depths of deep space.

Chaol Zul, the destroyer of worlds. The wielder of the Dark Side. 

Cloaked in the myths and legends of the universe.

Their rise prophesied, eons ago.

A great disturbance is caused across the Galaxy, a ripple is formed. The planets are left wary of what is to come.

And at the center of it all, two forces, equals, opposites, the balance.

Kylo Ren and Rey could feel it too.

 


	2. No Turning Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey, after feeling the awakening of a dark force, debates whether or not to reach out to Kylo Ren for help.

_"A lifetime spent preparing for the journey."_

 

 

Rey went to Leia. 

"There's this... this evil rising. Somewhere," Rey said to her, "it's so... prominent. I can feel it throughout the force now. Spreading decay, chaos, death."

"And you think you're the only one who can stop it?" Leia asked.

Rey shook her head, "no, I know I can't be the only one to stop it. It's too powerful," she sighed, "I wanted... I wanted to give Ben time. Time to find himself again, and I tried to ignore this but... I think I need to go to him."

"If you think he's ready."

"I don't... I can feel him, his thoughts. He still feels... I don't know. Lost."

"Go to him, Rey," Leia said to her, "you're the only one who can help him find the way... and if you're right about this threat, and I fear you are, it might be the last hope for us all."

 

Kylo felt the evil ripple through the force.

An evil he felt that he knew all too well.

He had seen it behind Snoke, he could feel it in the history of his family, in Vader, in Darth Sidious. It scared him, how much he remembered the feeling from his own past. 

An old enemy, coming back to haunt him.

But it went further than the Sith lords, it was much stronger than that. 

Through the Grey he could feel that it was more, it threatened the balance. The balance that he and Rey had nearly destroyed themselves to find. And now they needed to keep it.

Kylo could feel Rey coming for him, reaching out for him.

He opened his eyes. He was ready.


	3. There's No Time for Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Kylo reunite.
> 
> Kylo decides to break his self-exile in order to face the threat alongside Rey.
> 
> Neither of them can deny the rift that has been created between them, but they must leave their personal feelings behind until the threat has been destroyed.

_"It's all decided for us._

_This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us."_

 

Rey had come to the planet once before, as she landed she was awed by its beauty once again.

It was mostly ocean, but the few islands that it had were exquisite. Covered in forested plains, breathtaking mountains with snow peaks on top. A place to find peace. This was Kylo Ren's place.

He was waiting for her when she landed. 

"I knew you were coming," he said as she exited the ship.

"I had no choice."

"You feel it?" He asked.

She nodded, "it scares me, Ben, more than anything has ever scared me before."

"We can fight it together. We're strong enough."

Rey looked into his eyes, "are you sure? After everything that's happened?"

He stiffened, "I've come to terms with everything, Rey. I've accepted you. I've accepted your order. I'm part of the grey, the balance. I can feel it flowing through me, through you, through everything."

"I don't want to lose you, Ben. I don't want to bring you into something like this now. But I fear I don't have a choice."

"No, Rey. You don't have a choice. I would've come to you anyway."

"We have no idea what we're going to be dealing with."

"I've felt evil before, but never on this scale."

"Ben, promise I won't lose you in all this?"

"How could you lose me?"

"I don't know I just... after everything I've done to you, after everything we've done to each other, I couldn't bear losing to the dark side."

He pulled her towards him, she lay her head on his chest, "we're equals, Ben. We can't be without the other. It would upset the balance."

"The balance we're sworn to protect... I know, Rey."

They stood like that for a long time, trying to black out that evil thing that was starting to grow all around them. 


	4. You're the Voice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo and Rey take some time on the island, they wait for the threat to emerge. Rey is haunted by what lies ahead in her dreams.

_"We have the chance to turn the pages over."_

Rey was in a dark, dark place. 

She stood up.

"Ben?" She called out.

Her voice echoed back to her helplessly. She looked around, all she saw was darkness. A mist hovered around her ankles. Before her, she thought she saw something.

"Who are you?" She asked.

There was no answer, but suddenly she was frozen. She tried to move, but her legs were pinned to the ground.

"Who are you?" She asked again.

A blackened, rotting hand reached out to her from the darkness.

_A nightmare._

The hand grabbed her neck and she woke up screaming.

 

She sat up on her bunk aboard the ship. She was shaking, sweat was dripping from her forehead. She had to get out of the ship.

 

The night air was cool on her face. She stood outside for a long time, alone: trying to let the quietness calm her. But the thing from her nightmare was still there.

Still all around her.

Still probing at her.

Still growing, changing, writhing in the force.

He was impossibly quiet, but she could sense him walking towards her.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asked.

"Bad dreams," she replied.

"I've had them too."

"Of the cave? The hand?" 

"Some of them," he said.

The closer they were, the calmer Rey felt, "this was always our fate, Ben."

"What was?"

"Together, protecting the balance."

"It seems it was."

"We can defeat this together, can't we? We must be able to. If we're the balance of the force we're the only hope."

He was silent.

"I told Luke once I thought you were the last hope, for the force."

He looked at her, "you have a lot of faith in me."

"It's not only me, Ben," she took his hand, "it's your mother, it was your father, it's the force. This has always been your destiny, Ben Solo. Everyone has always known it."

He brought a hand up to her hair, she tilted her head into it, letting him hold her. His touch was warm, safe. 

After a few moments they parted and the sun began to rise ever so slowly over the mountains.

Rey wished she could capture this moment and hold it in her heart always.


	5. Cruel Device

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia Organa comes face to face with the dreaded threat at a resistance base.

_"Your cruel device,_

_Your blood like ice._

_One look could kill,_

_Our pain, your thrill."_

 

"The First Order's attacks have become scattered and predictable, general. They have no leadership after all, some of the others and I have pinpointed some areas where these attacks are most likely to occur and I suggest we send troops out there to protect the citizens."

Leia smiled, "very good, Dameron. And I must say you're looking very well."

He grinned, "tends to happen when you're not recklessly trying to blow up First Order ships by yourself."

Leia laughed.

"Seriously though," he said, "if the First Order doesn't step it up sometime soon I'm going to have actual free time on my hands and I don't know how to cope with that."

"I'm sure Finn has a few ideas," Leia chuckled.

"Good evening, General," Poe left the room smiling.

Leia sat at her desk looking over plans for the New Republic. She had been born into a world without any sort of democracy, and now she hoped that she could be a tool in finally forming one for the galaxy.

She knew that it would take time for a such a system to work properly, but she was sure that the outcome would be worth the wait.

Just as she was calling a captain to come and speak with her, a strange chill came over the room. She stood up to look for her jacket and then immediately fell to the ground. Before she could call out for help, she saw the large shadow before her.

This was a being of absolute darkness, devoid of the light, and it was just a few breaths away.

"Do you know who I am?" came a sinister voice.

Leia shook her head, trying to pull herself up. She was suddenly forced down.

"You will, Leia Organa."

The shadow neared her, "my name is Chaol Zul. I have come to kill you."

"Others have tried," Leia spat, "you're the one Rey was worrying about, the one caused the disturbance in the force."

Zul laughed, "a disturbance? Why, I mean to destroy it, but a disturbance is a good starting point I should think."

A hand shot out of the shadowy mass and instantly, Leia found that she could not breathe.

"You have felt a lot of pain in your life, General Organa... so many... so many  _painful_ memories."

Leia was choking her hands clawing at her neck.

"How about we relive some of those?"

Leia screamed as her body burned with pain, hatred, loss, betrayal... "p... please..." she coughed out, "st... stop. Just end it."

"Oh, I will. But only when you've struck a nerve with your son and his doomed Rey..."

Tears fell from Leia's eyes, the burning, the writhing, the decay became all too great and then... in one last foul grip... she slumped weightlessly to the ground.

 

Kylo fell over from where he was standing, Rey turned to him, "Ben! What's wrong... you..." and then she felt it. That stabbing hurt. The sudden pain that rang throughout her body.

Through the shock of it, Kylo managed to rasp out a word, _"mother."_


	6. I Fall Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo is on the brink of turning back to the Dark Side after the cruel murder of his mother.
> 
> Chaol Zul pays them a visit.

_"And I need you now tonight_

_And I need you more than ever."_

 

Rey was scared to even speak to him.

He was kneeling on the ground, staring away into the night. Rey could feel the Darkness emanating from him. And then there was Leia. Across the stars, across the galaxy so far, far away she had been killed by this great evil.

Rey felt responsible, if she had stayed with her maybe she would be alive right now. If she hadn't come to find Kylo then maybe he wouldn't be slipping back to the Dark again. 

Rey felt helpless and in the moment she was blind to the force. Everything around her was shrouded.

The great darkness that was rising was close. 

 

In his mind, Kylo was waging war.

Everything Rey had secured had come crashing down so easily.  _Why was he so weak?_ All he could think of was his mother, of how many times he had broken her heart... of how many times he had felt her forgive him. He thought about her last moments, about how they had so easily penetrated his mind and torn apart his peace. He thought about those moments of pain... the pain that he had felt as if it was his own neck that was being choked... as if it was his own body that was burning in the memories of the past.

He could feel the Darkness coming over him... a strange and familiar comfort. It blanketed him, encompassed him. Whatever light had remained was trying to fight it off... and the whole time he was writhing in it. The imbalance. It scared him.

There was only one who could help him now... but she seemed so far away... she was standing so close... he couldn't even call out to her...

 

Rey couldn't take it anymore, not so much pain. Not from Kylo, not from Ben. She approached him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Ben..."

It didn't even take a second for Kylo to draw his lightsaber and lunge towards Rey. She barely had enough time to draw her own and block his blow.

"Ben! No!"

"It's your fault! I could have protected her!"

"Ben, please, this isn't you! Remember... the balance..."

They fought each other viciously, Kylo's swings were erratic and miscalculated. Rey tried her best to exercise control over her movements... she did not want to hurt Ben.

She used the force to push against him, he cried out, using his strength to lunge forward. Rey ducked so that he threw himself onto the ground.

"Ben!" She cried, "stop this! You're better than this!"

This time she couldn't stop him as he kicked her onto the floor. She blocked his lightsaber with her own, only inches from her face.

"Ben! Ben look at what you're doing!"

His face showed no change. She looked into his eyes. She knew these ones all too well. The eyes of the monster.

And then there came the rupture. 

Kylo's face changed, he drew his lightsaber and pushed himself away from her.

"Rey..." he said, "I..."

Rey wasn't looking at him. 

Kylo turned in the direction of her gaze and was overcome again by that rage.

There stood that evil. A great darkness. A shadow.

"Have you been expecting me?" a voice came out. 

Kylo helped Rey to her feet, "show yourself," he demanded.

"An eager boy I see... I look forward to breaking you..." there was a pause, "but it seems I have already. I didn't expect the descendant of Darth Vader to be so weak."

"Who are you?" Rey asked, "why are you here?"

"Who am I?" Slowly, the shadows were shed, falling to the ground. Out stepped a figure in a cloak. Long, black hair fell from the sides. The hands that fell from the sides were grey... the skin, decaying. "I am Chaol Zul. Your nightmare, Rey."

Rey felt her breathing shudder but remained standing.

"As for why I'm here. It's because of you two. The return of the Grey. The return of the balance. It was my calling, you see. I encompass everything you Grey Jedi stand against. The entirety of the Dark Side. And the force, I intend to destroy it. And I can. You know that I can. You can feel it breaking all around you right now."

"We will destroy you before that happens," Kylo spat.

"We'll see, boy."

And with that, she was gone and the stiffness in the air disappeared.  

Kylo fell to the ground.

"Ben!" Rey dropped to her knees beside him, lifting his head up in her arms, "Ben, are you okay?"

"I can't go back to the Dark Side, Rey. I felt it. I felt it. Rey you don't understand how quickly I fell."

"The only we can defeat her is with the balance, Ben. I won't let you fall again. I can't let you fall again."

In a moment of pained passion, Kylo leaned up and kissed Rey. When they parted he said, "I will never, ever do that to you again."

Rey embraced him, "don't make promises you can't keep."

They held each other, trying to preserve the force between them amidst the chaos that was engulfing the world around them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I am writing fanfiction on Christmas eve. What else am I supposed to be doing on Christmas Eve.


	7. Evil in the Air

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey used the force to shield the whereabouts of her friends from Chaol Zul while Kylo searches the force for a way to destroy her.

_"You're the only thing in this whole world,_

_That's pure and good and right._

_And wherever you are and wherever you go,_

_There's always gonna be some light."_

 

Kylo Ren was searching for answers. According to Rey, the Grey would simply 'speak' to him. All he could hear was a distant echo from the force, it was weakening and in every corner, in every shadow there was Chaol Zul blurring it. The only thing he could make out, a constant phrase being repeated over and over and over...

 

_Restore the balance._

 

"What does that mean?" He asked.

 

_Restore the balance._

 

A simple command. No advice, no sort of ancient wisdom... just  _restore the balance._

 

He opened his eyes. He was frustrated. He looked over his shoulder and saw Rey doing repairs on her ship. She turned to him. For a minute they looked at each other before Kylo got up and went into the forest. Rey sighed and continued to work on the engine. 

Kylo liked the forest. He enjoyed the coolness and the smell of it. More so, though, he enjoyed the feeling of life around him. After blocking out the light side of the force for so long, he could now embrace it. 

The simple movements of the leaves, the tiny lifeforms in the dirt. The cycle of life and death, the feeling of the force working all around it, always. An ancient ritual. 

Once he was far into the woods, he closed his eyes again and tried to listen again.

_In these shadowed walls_

_Comes the hour_

_Comes the end._

_In these hallowed halls_

_Comes the fear, decay_

_Comes the rotting, malice._

_In these falling doorways_

_Comes the anger and the madness,_

_Comes the end._

_Restore the balance._

 

"These Grey Jedi," Kylo said, leaving the forest, "they were quite the poets."

"They like to equivocate," Rey replied, climbing out from under the ship, wiping black spots of fluid from her face, "they don't like to leave things in... black and white, obviously."

"They speak in shades of grey," Kylo sighed, "I've got nothing."

"Nothing at all?" Rey asked.

"Only 'Restore the balance' over and over again. It gives us nothing."

Rey was quiet.

"Obviously," he continued, "this Chaol Zul is upsetting the balance and in order to restore the balance we need to get rid of her and we don't know how, how can we restore the balance? It doesn't make any sense."

 

"It has to make sense," Rey said, "they... the Grey... they always say enough. However they say it. There must be a way to restore the balance without defeating Zul first."

"How?" He asked.

She shrugged, "I have no idea... but the idea of the balance..."

"What is it?"

She looked at him, "we need to go to Ahch-To. The first Jedi temple. If Zul was the enemy of the Grey Jedi she must have been an enemy of the Jedi as well. Maybe we'll find our answers there."

"Okay," he agreed, "we'll take my ship."

 

 

Rey and Kylo sat in silence for most of the fly to Ahch-To. Rey always loved flying through space, it was still sort of new to her. She would never get bored of staring at the unimaginable number of stars in the sky, at the sight of visible planets... she loved the impossibility of everything in space. It was still magical to her, it had always been. Even as a child on Jakku. 

 

Kylo was lightly listening to the thoughts that crossed Rey's mind and he smiled slightly. At times like these he remembered how most of Rey's life had been spent on that barren wasteland of Jakku. She still had so much to see. He wished he could tell her of everything he had seen in his own life, of the 'field trips' that Luke had taken him and the other Jedi learners to during their training. His favorite was him taking them to Ilum, the arctic planet where the crystals used to make lightsabers are found. The crystal caves beneath the ice were glorious to look upon.

But Kylo did not want to simply tell Rey of everything he had seen.

What he wanted was to show her.

 

"There it is," Rey pointed to Ahch-To. "The temple is on an island in it's ocean. I'll show you when we get nearer."

Kylo examined the planet, "it has an odd looking moon," he noted.

Rey looked up to the large, dark mass hovering over the planet, "Ben, stop." She said.

The ship's engines came to a halt, "what is it?"

"I don't think that's a moon," she said.

They both looked at it, using the force, they both sensed that horrid familiarity about it.

"Chaol Zul," Kylo breathed, "she knew we'd come here."

The moon-like object started to fall to the planet, causing the entirety of it to be engulfed in its blackness.

And then there was a stiffening silence, an eerie stillness... before an overwhelming gush of red, fierce light.

"Ben, get out us of here!" Rey cried as shards of rock was flung towards their ship.

As they left as quickly as they could, every now then the pieces of Ahch-To hitting them without doing major damage, Rey felt a sharp ache in her, as if she had lost something very dear. And Kylo and Rey both felt a deeper rift form in the force.

In the rift that formed, there came a horrifying darkness that called to them both. An unthinkable evil was seeping into the force, into the air around them.

Rey felt Ben reach out to her, even though they were just breaths apart, in solidarity, they held each other over the force, trying to protect their minds from corruption by Chaol Zul.

 


	8. If You Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chaol Zul continues to wreak havoc in the galaxy, making sure Rey and Kylo know very well what she is doing.
> 
> Kylo believes he has figured out how to restore balance to the force.

_"After my picture fades and darkness has turned to grey_

_Watching through windows, you're wondering if I'm okay_

_Secrets stolen from deep inside_

_The drum beats out of time."_

 

A small girl grabbed her mother's arm as two people dressed in orange pilot wear walked past her, "mama! Are they in the resistance?"

The mother smiled at her, "yes, yes they are."

The girl's face lit up, "like daddy!"

The mother nodded and continued to walk along the street. "When I grow up I want to be in the resistance," the girl said.

"Your father would be very proud of you, little one. Now come, we need to get home before dark."

"Mama, what's that?"

The girl pointed to the sky as others in the street began to notice it too.

A dark cloud descending on them. The mother grabbed her daughter's hand, "let's go."

"Mama, I'm scared," the girl said, "I... I can feel something terrible coming from the sky."

"It's just a storm," the mother tried to assure her.

"No!" the girl cried, "it... it feels like darkness."

The mother and daughter watched along with everyone else as their entire world was surrounded and then taken by Chaol Zul's darkness...

 

Rey woke up with tears in her eyes and an ache in her heart. She wished that she had been dreaming... but she knew all too well that she was not. This was Zul's doing. This taunting, it had been happening more and more. More planets, more lives taken. Rey had used the force to try and cloud where the main resistance base was, in an effort to protect her friends, she hoped that it was enough.

So far, she could still sense them. They worried for her though, they could feel the darkness coming too.

 

Kylo watched the fire crackle and burn before him. A realization had seeped into his mind. About the words from the grey.

_Restore the balance._

He felt that he knew what this meant now, and he felt that he could fix it. 

He looked over to Rey's ship, where she should be sleeping by now, he hoped. He grabbed his lightsaber and left his campsite to go walk in the forest.

 

Rey couldn't sleep, not after the dream, not with the fear of having more of them to come. So she left the ship.

She saw a fire burning a few feet away, Ben's no doubt. But he wasn't there. Perhaps he was walking in the forest, he loved doing that. 

 

The imbalance. Kylo realized that he had to correct it. 

He had seen Rey fight, and he had fought with her. In all those times, he had felt the balance coming from her. He also knew that he drew much of his power, of his strength from Rey and that in a way it weakened her. 

Thus, weakening the balance.

His very presence was damaging to her, to her connection with the force. He was a threat. A dead-weight. An imbalance.

 

Rey walked into the forest and suddenly, she felt scared. She couldn't tell why... she reached out for Ben but she couldn't find him... or he was blocking her. 

She began to walk, and to call for him.

 

She was trying to reach him, he knew that it was too late.

He came to the clearing he had been looking for, the one where he often went to for solace. Perhaps he would find it, ultimately, here again. 

He drew it lightsaber and used the force to push it away from him, until it was pointing at his chest from a few feet away.

He had to do this. To save the balance. To save the force. To save Rey.

Kylo knew he had too much of the dark in him still, even if Rey swore she could see the light. She cared too much for him, which is why he had to do this himself.

Closing his eyes, he let the lightsaber rush towards him. 

 

Rey saw Kylo standing in a clearing, she heard the electric sound of his lightsaber a while away from him... it was pointing to his chest. She saw him close his eyes and then the saber started to go in his direction... to kill him.

"Ben! No!"

Rey ran as fast as she could, Rey saw the lightsaber speed up as she came closer.

At the very last moment, Rey slammed herself into his side and screamed as his lightsaber cut at her back. She fell on top of him, breathing heavily from the shock and pain. The lightsaber hit a tree, cutting it down before it was deactivated.

 

He was lying on the ground with Rey on top of him... the heavy scented smell of blood sent waves of fear through him.

"Rey!" He pushed himself up to sitting and held her in his arms, her head on his chest.

He saw the slash across her back and winced. 

She looked up at him, her eyes low, "why..?" she asked before the pain took over and she blacked out.

Kylo sat holding her, filled with regret.

 

 


	9. Burning, burning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Kylo discover the source of Chaol Zul's power... they travel there in order to destroy it.

_"Please don't go,_

_I don't want to stay here on my own."_

 

 

Kylo cleaned the wound on Rey's back while she was out. He did it as carefully as he possibly could, even though he couldn't stop his hands from shaking.

He used the small medical droid he kept on his ship to apply stitches and give her something for the pain.

The night was cold, so he lay Rey down on the bunk on his ship and put the heating system on. And then he waited.

 

Kylo was nearly falling asleep when Rey opened her eyes.

"Ben." Was the first word she said.

Kylo rushed to her side, "Rey," he breathed, "are you alright."

She stared at him, "what were you doing?"

He was silent. The look of betrayal in her eyes was all too familiar.

A tear dropped from one of her eyes, "why?"

"I thought I was causing the imbalance." He explained. "I thought... if I was gone, you'd be strong enough to defeat her."

She stared at him, quiet. She was hurt by his words. She found that she couldn't speak for a while, all she could do was stare at him until she said, "right from the beginning, I told you I couldn't do this alone. That I needed you."

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. 

"You're not the imbalance, Ben," Rey said, "we, together are the balance. Whatever Zul is doing, she's separating us. She tearing us apart that is what is causing the imbalance,  _not you._ "

"Then how can I restore the balance?" He asked.

"How can we restore the balance," Rey corrected him, "you're not alone, Ben. You're never going to be alone."

"How's the pain?" he asked.

She sighed, "it's awful. It feels like my back is on fire." She turned to him, "must've felt like that on your face, right?"

He smirked, "my face? It was barely a scratch."

"No," Rey reached out, "I saw you when I gave it to you, you were in pain," she traced the scar so, so lightly with her fingertips.

Kylo took her hand in his, "I'm sorry I did this to you."

Rey took her hand away, "you're always sorry, Ben. Always. You need to stop this. You need to stop thinking you're the threat, you're the problem, you're the imbalance... because you're not. How many times do I have to tell you you're the hope. You're the hope for everyone. You've gone to the darkest place anyone could have gone and you've come back. You need to recognize your worth in this world. Because you are worth something to it, you're worth something to me and if anything ever happened to you..."

She was cut off by Kylo holding her head in his hands, "what do you see in me, Rey?" He asked.

Their noses were just about touching when Rey replied, "the balance."

He kissed her, and everything else became silent.

 

Rey couldn't even grasp the reality of it all. It was like they were just drifting, just a particle in the force. 

She could see, on either side of them, the light, the darkness... the grey that hovered between them. For this moment she could purge her mind of the decay that was growing all around them, and there was only hope. 

And then she was in space. Nearing a planet. Far, far away. It was a dark planet, no life grew there.

She came to a temple on a mountain, she heard a call from inside. 

She followed it.

At the end of the entrance, there was a great, dark mass of matter hovering over the floor. She could feel it moving within her. This was that great darkness. Chaol Zul was just a tool, a weapon. Created by whatever this was. It had been forgotten, allowed to fester here on this planet so far away.

She knew now that they had to destroy it.

 

Suddenly she was back, and there he was. Her hand in his hair, the other was propping herself up. His hand on her arm, supporting her. Their lips parted and their eyes met and he knew.

"What did you see?" he asked.

"I know where we have to go." Rey said, "we need to go now."

"You're too weak..."

Rey moved him aside and pushed herself out of the bunk. She stood up firmly and took a long breath. "I can do it, I can block out the pain... I just need you," she took his hand, "by my side."

 

Rey flew the ship into Hyperspace, deep into the outer rim. She could hear the call from the temple. "We're close," she said to Kylo.

"I can feel it too," he said.

 

The planet was writhing with the dark side of the force. Kylo took Rey's hand as they ascended the steps up the mountain the the temple. Rey tried to create a shield around their thoughts, their feelings, to hide them. But she could feel something trying to force its way into her mind.

As they entered the temple that could sense whatever was inside trying to make them flee. Misery, pain, loss, betrayal all swept through Rey and Kylo's minds. But, keeping close to each other, they continued to go deeper down the hall.

 

When they saw it they knew what they had to do.

They let go of each others hands and raised them towards it, they let the force flow through them, projecting it at the mass before them. Bit by bit, they felt it crumbling, and they could feel it fighting back. 

And then, Rey realized that Chaol Zul knew that they were here.

She lowered her hands, turning and drawing her lightsaber.

She was ready.


	10. Immortal Fear

_"Last fire will rise behind those eyes_

_Black house will rock, blind boys don't lie_

 

_Immortal fear, that voice so clear_

_Through broken walls, that scream I hear"_

 

Rey held the stare with Chaol Zul, who had drawn two lightsabers. Both black. 

"Ben, don't stop destroying it. I'll deal with her."

Kylo shot her a look of worry before turning away. Rey stepped towards Zul, swing her lightsaber.

"I've been looking forward to this," Zul spat, she jumped into the air unexpectedly, swinging both of her sabers at Rey's back. Rey screamed as her old wound burned and two new ones were slashed into her. She turned around and quickly parried, blocking the lightsabers a few short inches away from her face. 

And then a yell.

"Ben no!"

Kylo was fighting with her as Rey struggled to regain her strength. Rey had never seen this sort of skill with a lightsaber before, but she had only seen a few.

Hers, Kylo's and Luke's fighting was primitive, raw.

This entity fought with a taught precision, a way with utilizing the force into the battle seamlessly. They were no match for her.

 

Kylo knew that engaging with her was a mistake the minute their sabers touched.

From that moment, he could feel her darkness feeding into his soul. He could no longer feel Rey's protection over him. It was only Kylo Ren and Chaol Zul.

"Look into yourself, Kylo," she snarled, toying with him, "how could you have believed her? After everything she's done to you."

"Get out of my head!" He cried, force pushing her away.

She skidded on the temple floor, laughing, "she's betrayed you, used you, _destroyed you_."

Rey ran towards them, but with a flick of Zul's wrist she was flying to the other side of the temple.

Kylo was blocking her, leaning far backwards, Zul's lightsabers crossed and singed a bit of his hair.

"How could she ever love you. She said it herself, right at the beginning,  _you are a monster._ "

Kylo was starting to fade away, his mind a mess. He tried to fight it, but his will had left. 

"Come on," she spat,  _"prove her right."_

Zul drew her lightsabers and jumped away from him. Kylo Ren turned to where Rey was picking herself up.

"Ben?"

But they were the eyes of Ben, nor Kylo Ren. These were the eyes of something else entirely. Kylo ran towards her, swinging his lightsaber.

 

Blow after blow, red on white, the flashes lit up the darkness of the temple as Chaol Zul laughed at them. Rey was screaming at Kylo to stop, but his slashes kept coming. With every one, Rey felt herself weaken. She searched for Kylo, for Ben in the force... she found nothing.

"Pitiful," Chaol Zul came up behind them while Kylo was pinning Rey to a wall with their sabers, "I thought you two would be trouble... but you're like all the other Greys, all the Jedi. You can't restore the balance. _There is no balance._ There can only be darkness. Now come on, Kylo Ren. Finish her. End this."

"Ben..." Rey looked into his eyes, "please..."

 

Everything faded to white.

And then there were flashes, he saw his mother, his father... he saw Luke... he felt their pain, their regret. He saw, in those brief moments the love that they had all held for him. He hated himself for not seeing it sooner, for not allowing them to love him sooner.

And then he saw Rey, by the ocean. In his ship. On the cliff. By his side. Always there, always Rey.

_What was he doing?_

 

He turned his lightsaber away from Rey. He turned to Zul. With all the strength he had he used the force to push her away from them. She didn't go far. She skidded just a few feet before lunging after Kylo. Rey used the force to trip her in her steps then got up, her lightsaber ready to fight. 

She lunged at Zul her blocked her blows. Rey wasn't landing any hits, and Zul was making slashes over her body. Her shoulders, her stomach, her thighs. It was fine, all she had to do was distract her until Kylo could...

She looked swiftly to Kylo running towards the dark mass from which Chaol Zul drew her power. His lightsaber was drawn and his hands were held out in front of him. 

Then Rey saw what he intended to do.

"Ben! Stop!" she cried, shoving Zul away with her lightsaber.

Zul turned to Kylo Ren, screaming in anger, lashing towards him.

 

Kylo threw himself into the matter, letting it engulf him. He shot one last look at Rey, trying to communicate what he could no longer say.

 

And then everything dissolved into nothing.

 

Rey watched as before her eyes Chaol Zul crumbled, in a last effort, she swung her lightsabers in Rey's direction before she fell to the ground, a pile of dust.

 

"Ben!" Rey cried, running towards his figure, lying on the mountain of ash.

She skid to her knees by his side, lifting his head. 

Breathing heavily, she raised two fingers to his neck, looking for a pulse.

She waited.

One.

Two.

Three...

Nothing.

"Ben... don't leave me... please don't... you can't. You can't do this..."

But he just lay there, as only a dead man could. Silent. Cold. 

Rey began to cry, holding his body to her chest, pleading, pleading to the force.

She started to feel the anger rise in her.

 _"How could you do this?"_ She cried, "you gave me something. You brought the balance. You cannot take it away."

But it had gone, the balance. The force had been disturbed. The light and the dark were no longer at ease, falling away from her control. The balance had to be restored.

"He was the hope... you showed him to me... please... don't take him..."

Her tears were falling onto his skin. 

"Please..." She hung her head, "please."

 

_Thou shall not fall_

 

Rey lay there, holding Ben for a long time, trying to listen to whatever the force had to say. But it was clouded, lost to her now.

 

_Thou shall not fear_

 

And then... suddenly she was filled with the light. The force, it was awakening within her, she could feel it rising from her chest, through her fingertips. She looked down to Kylo Ren... she held his head in her hands, "Ben?"

 

_Thou shall not die_

 

His eyes opened to meet hers, "Rey."

 

_"Grey masquerade, strangers look on_

_When will they learn this loneliness?_

_Temptation heat beats like a drum_

_Deep in your veins, I will not die"_


	11. Born to be Kings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And then there were two.

_"And here we are.  
_

_We're the princes of the universe.  
_

_Here we belong,  
_

_Fighting for survival.  
_

_We've come to be the rulers of your world."_

 

And so, from the ashes of the fallen First Order and from the fires of The Resistance there rose  a New Republic.

A democratic system designed to restore order and peace to the galaxy.

And at it's heart, sworn to be the protectors of peace, order and the balance:

The Grey Jedi, Kylo Ren and Rey.

 

_"Born to be kings._

_Princes of the universe._

_Fighting and free._

_Got your world in my hand._

_I'm here for your love and I'll make my stand._

_We were born to be princes of the universe."_

 

Together, they were sworn the guard the rise and rule of the New Republic. To train a new generation of Grey Jedi, those who would not conform to the light nor the dark, to not be tempted by the sides of the force, who would believe in only one loyalty: The Balance.

The woes of these protectors were not over, would never be over.

When goodness and hope rises, decay and malice will always come to meet it.

 

_"_ _Here we belong._

_Fighting to survive in a war with the darkest powers."_

 

 

This was where they belonged, Rey knew. Right from the beginning, she found that they had always known. That one day they would be like this, side by side. Protecting all that they hold dear.

And there was Kylo Ren, Ben Solo. Following in the footsteps of his forefathers, fulfilling what Darth Vader had wanted in the end, a new hope.

He would always be conflicted, he would never escape the fire that burned in the darkest parts of his soul, but now he would always be able to fight it. 

 

_"We were born to be princes of the universe."_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song list:  
> 1\. The Show Must Go On - Queen  
> 2\. Don't Pay the Ferryman - Chris de Burgh  
> 3\. Who Wants to Live Forever - Queen  
> 4\. You're the Voice - John Farnham  
> 5\. Poison - Alice Cooper  
> 6\. Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler  
> 7\. Bat Out of Hell - Meat Loaf  
> 8\. Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper  
> 9\. Doctor! Doctor! - Thompson Twins  
> 10\. Cry Little Sister - Gerard McMahon  
> 11\. Princes of the Universe - Queen
> 
> Hope you enjoyed my attempt at telling a story!


End file.
